Monochromatic
by allurement
Summary: AU SasuSaku Class is dead, darling. It died out with the dinosaurs and it traded its pearls and white wine for myspace and corona. Welcome to the twentyfirst century, would you like fries with that?
1. Enter

**Fandom:** Naruto  
**Pairing:** SasuSaku  
**Summary:** Class is _dead_, darling. It died out with the dinosaurs and it traded its pearls and white wine for MySpace and corona. Welcome to the 21st century; would you like fries with that?  
**Disclaimer:** Standard disclaimer applies.

* * *

**Chapter One:** Enter

"Sakura."

No response.

"Sakura, come on. We're going to be late."

"Sasuke-kun, I'm scared."

A sigh. "Don't be. Just keep your mouth shut, smile and be pretty. Now come on, you're being annoying now."

Haruno Sakura slowly stood up, and made her way over to Uchiha Sasuke, who had his hand outstretched. She took it in her gloved hand, and together, they made their way down to the foyer and out of the house into the waiting car in the driveway.

Tonight, she would be tested.

* * *

"My, my, Sasuke-kun, and who is this lovely, young lady?"

Sakura smiled prettily, whilst Sasuke shot her a glance, before saying, "This is my companion, Haruno Sakura. Sakura, this is Orochimaru-sama, one of my father's benefactors."

"I'm charmed, Haruno-chan. Sasuke-kun must really like you for you to be here tonight. He's never brought any of his lady-friends to a function before."

Sakura watched Sasuke squirm a little, her smile widening. "Thank you. It's a pleasure to meet you, Orochimaru-sama."

The man straightened his tie. "Well, I must findJiraiya-sama now, he said he wanted me to read a draft of a new novel he's written; him, writing, can you believe that? I'll bet it's nothing but pornography. Well, it was wonderful to meet you, Haruno-chan. Sasuke-kun, make sure you look after her, okay?"

He winked, turned around and walked off, getting lost amongst the crowd of other expensive suits and designer ball-gowns.

Sakura's mouth dropped open. "Did I just do something right?"

"It appears so.Orochimaru doesn't get impressed by newcomers easily." Sasuke merely raised an eyebrow at Orochimaru's back, but considering that it was Sasuke, Sakura was willing to bet that he was secretly more surprised than she was, which wasn't very encouraging.

"Sakura, close your mouth. It's not very attractive."

* * *

"Well, Sakura-chan, I think you did absolutely magnificently. For the majority of the evening, the other guests were asking Fugaku and I who that wonderfully charming girl was with our Sasuke. I'm very glad he decided to bring you along," Uchiha Mikoto gushed.

Sakura beamed. "Really? Did they really ask about me, Uchiha-san?"

"I wouldn't be telling you this if it were otherwise. It seems you made a very good impression on them."

Somewhere to their left, Sasuke was talking to Fugaku and Itachi. After a few minutes, Sasuke walked over to Sakura and his mother and put his hand on Sakura's shoulder.

"Come on, Sakura, I'll take you home now," he said, pulling his keys out of his pocket with his other hand.

"Be careful driving now Sasuke. It's late," Mikoto warned, kissing Sakura on the cheek.

Sasuke nodded absently and exited their manor, as Sakura bade farewell to the rest of his family and trotted after him. They got into his car as he reversed out of the garage and drove out of the Uchiha estate.

Sakura couldn't contain herself. "Sasuke-kun! Did you hear what your mother said? She said that I made a good impression on everyone else!"

Sasuke sighed. "Yes, you did very well, now stop jumping up and down or you're going to make me crash and die."

The bouncing ceased, but the loud chatter and obnoxious giggles did not, and Sasuke cursed Sakura living so far away from him; it was a thirty-minute drive from her house to his and he would have to listen to her incessant babbling for the rest of the ride.

Sasuke pulled up in front of her house, and waited for her to say goodnight and get out of the car quietly.

No such luck.

Sakura smiled at him, her hair slightly messed up and her make-up smudged from her bopping around in the car.

Sasuke thought she looked beautiful.

"Sasuke-kun," she began eagerly. "Did I do well?"

Sasuke tore his eyes off hers and looked straight ahead. "Yeah, you did," he said. "Father and Aniki said you did good, seeing as how it was your first time, but there are one or two things you could work on."

"Really? What are they?" Sakura said, looking alarmed.

"Don't worry about it now. Father says he's booking you into etiquette classes starting next month. I'll tell you more when he gives me the details."

Sakura buried her head in her hands. "Oh God. Was I that awful that your dad has to book me into etiquette classes? So was everyone asking about me because I was behaving all wrong, like a – like a _peasant_? Oh God, Sasuke-kun, what am I going to–"

"No one uses the word 'peasant' to describe people anymore, Sakura. And relax. Take this as a good sign. If Father is going to all this trouble, it means he thinks you have potential and he wants to see you with us again in the future. He's just nitpicking; you know him."

Sakura calmed down. "Are you sure?"

"Very. Now get out of my car, I'm tired and I want to go home."

Sakura giggled. "Oh, Sasuke-kun," she said adoringly, grabbing her purse and kissing him on the cheek softly, before getting out of the car and skipping up to her front door.

Sasuke waited until he saw her enter the house and close the door before driving off. He didn't like the idea of Sakura living alone, but nothing could be done about that. Her parents were dead, their family broke, and she couldn't live with Sasuke and his family. For one, if things didn't work out between him and Sakura, then she would have no affiliation with them and would be thrown out, and she would have nowhere to go to after that. Besides, if any of his parents' friends found out, they would gossip like mad, _what a scandal_, they would say. They would expect him and Sakura to be married, it wouldn't be so bad then, but he was only eighteen, and though Sakura was the only girl he could tolerate at times, he didn't think that was a good excuse to go ring-shopping.

His phone suddenly went off, and Sasuke checked his caller-ID to see Sakura's name. He rolled his eyes before answering it.

"Did you leave something in here?"

Sakura's cheerful voice sounded from the other end. "Oh, no. I just thought I might talk to you while you were driving back, so you wouldn't fall asleep."

"You don't need to do that."

"I just want to talk to you, Sasuke-kun."

"Let me call you back then–"

"Sasuke-kun. I know I'm not as wealthy as you, but I _can_ afford to pay for phone bills."

He rolled his eyes again. Annoying woman.

She continued talking for the majority of the ride, about school, about her part-time job at the local hospital and about the purple spot on her wall opposite her.

"Anyway, when's the next dinner or ball or whatever going to be? You know, I think I should win an Academy Award for my performance tonight, what do you think, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke paused. "Sakura," he began, cursing himself for feeling anxious about what he was going to say next. "Be careful."

A laugh. "What do I have to be careful about?"

Sasuke's grip on his phone tightened. "I don't want you turning into one of those people. The only reason I brought you out tonight was because I wanted to present you to everyone else. Don't turn into my mother, Sakura."

There was an awkward silence on the other end, before Sakura chuckled. "Don't worry about it, Sasuke-kun. I won't, I promise! Anyway, I adore your mother, and don't see what's so bad about – hey, Sasuke-kun, Ino-pig's trying to get through to me, probably going to go on about her latest encounter with one of the male species. I'll see you in school on Monday, okay?"

Sasuke swore as someone overtook him.

"Sasuke-kun?"

"Okay, okay. Don't keep Yamanaka waiting. It's rude."

Sakura giggled. "You are such a snob, Sasuke-kun. 'Night!"

Sasuke hung up, pocketing his phone as he drove past the open gates and up the front drive that led to the Uchiha Manor.

* * *

**A/N:**

Experimenting here. Don't kill me.

I have the ending for this all planned out, and the only reason I'm writing this is for the ending. This will be only a few chapters long, as the word 'original' and 'inspiration' are not part of my vocabulary, and yes, I know I'm failing at life thankyouverymuch.

_Lessthanthree._

**EDIT: **Since I am the biggest loser this side of the planet, I made one character appear in multiple different roles. Ugh, someone shoot me. But it's been fixed now. Many thanks to **lilxcutexmonstah** for pointing it out.


	2. Manners

**Fandom:** Naruto  
**Pairing:** SasuSaku  
**Summary:** Class is dead, darling. It died out along with the dinosaurs, exchanged its pearls and diamonds for MySpace and corona. Welcome to the twenty-first century; would you like fries with that?  
**Disclaimer:** Standard disclaimer applies.

* * *

**Chapter Two:** Manners

"No way."

Sakura sighed dramatically. "I bullshit you not, fair Ino-pig of mine."

"But I still can't believe it! Etiquette classes? I didn't even know they still _had_ those anymore."

Ino flopped back down on the bed and shoved a few potato chips into her mouth.

"You know, Sakura," Ino said between mouthfuls, "there's nothing wrong with your manners. Don't see why you need to go to some snooty prep session thing to improve yourself."

Sakura scowled and brushed off the crumbs Ino had made on her bed.

"Well, I suppose my manners must look perfect when I'm put next to you. My God, Ino, don't you even chew your food? Ever since you partnered up with that Chouji kid for your Food-Tech project, you haven't stopped eating this junk. He's really a bad influence on you, Ino; you're going to get fat if you keep eating at this rate."

Ino waved her hand dismissively. "I will never get fat, Sakura. I have a metabolism faster than… something really fast. And Chouji's a nice guy. He's been best friends with Shikamaru since kindergarten. Anyway, that's not the point, Sakura. The point _is _that your precious Sasuke-kun, or his family more like, is trying to turn you into one of them."

"I still don't see why there's this imaginary line that separates us from the people Sasuke-kun's family are around," Sakura sighed, tracing patterns on her bed-spread. "You know, he was warning me about it the other night. Not to turn into them, you know? I'm not stupid, Ino, I don't need people protecting me all the time."

"No, you're not, but that doesn't mean you're intelligent either." At Sakura's raised eyebrow, Ino elaborated. "I mean, you're exam results are second only to Sasuke's, but that just means you're smart. There's a difference, Sakura. I mean, you're probably ninety-seven percent book-smart and only like, three percent life-smart. They live in a completely different world from us, Forehead. Their world is made of material possessions, where everyone's opinion matters and you're judged on everything. Just – be careful, okay?"

"You know, for someone that Sasuke-kun finds so annoying, you sure talk exactly like him. Minus the high-pitched voice, of course."

Ino smirked. "Well, if he had my melodic voice, then I would think he needed to take vocal lessons to sound more macho. Wouldn't be surprised if he already did, though."

* * *

"Sasuke-kun, I don't want to go in."

Sasuke sighed for the sixty-eighth time that afternoon.

"Sakura, I go to this place as well, so I'll be right here."

"But look at it! It's huge, and it looks scary and intimidating, and I bet it's full of other rich kids, who pay people to do their homework for them and do nothing but play with their fancy high-tech gadgets their parents bought them!"

They were standing in front of the most prestigious institution in the city, Konoha Gakuen, more commonly known as the Leaf Academy to their foreign students.

"Sakura, don't be annoying now. The session starts in twenty minutes; we don't want to be late, especially since the lecture is about punctuality."

Sakura pouted. "Fine, but you better take me out for ice-cream after!"

"Hn."

They made their way inside, past the doors and through the marble foyer. Sakura didn't know which way to look first, the interior design of the place was simply fantastic.

"Ne, Sasuke-kun, why weren't there a lot of people outside? Aren't there a lot of people that go to these classes as well?"

"This place is a proper boarding school. The etiquette classes are only held after school hours, so they don't need to go outside," Sasuke replied.

"Why didn't you go here, then? Not complaining or anything, but it seems like the type of school you'd go to."

Sasuke merely shrugged in response.

He led Sakura through various corridors, past beautiful people in smart uniforms, until they reached their designated classroom.

Sasuke turned and looked at Sakura. "Ready?"

She exhaled. "Yeah. Let's go in before I change my mind."

"Sasuke!"

Said boy turned around and was greeted by a friendly punch to the shoulder.

"Man, I didn't see you _at all_ during Saturday's shindig. Where were you? I heard you brought some hot chick along, though."

Sasuke sighed and pulled Sakura's cowering figure out from where she had taken refuge behind him, and introduced her to the loud boy in front of them.

"This is Haruno Sakura, my girlfriend. Sakura, this is Uzumaki Naruto. He only began attending the Academy around two years ago, which explains why he fails this course every semester."

"So you're the girl Sasuke brought on Saturday? Well, I'm charmed," Naruto grinned, ignoring Sasuke's comments. "You don't attend the Academy, do you?"

Sakura shook her head. Well, at least this Uzumaki kid wasn't as proud and stuck up as she thought everyone would be. "No, I attend the same school as Sasuke-kun."

Naruto flung an arm around Sasuke, who grunted. "Lucky bastard. Come now, let's get some seats before Sasori-sensei comes in and asks us why we didn't settle down earlier."

The three of them took their seats, and talked for the remaining ten minutes before their teacher arrived. Or rather, Naruto shouted and told dirty jokes, Sakura laughed and blushed, and Sasuke closed his eyes and pretended he didn't know either of them.

Apparently, Naruto was the illegitimate son of Konoha's governor, Namikaze Minato. Minato and Naruto's mother had never spoken after The Incident, and as Naruto had taken his mother's maiden name, neither of them had known about each other until his mother died two years ago. However, once Minato had found out, Naruto was immediately swept up into his father's world, not that he complained much. The food was good, and he supposed that compensated for him having to keep _relatively _quiet sometimes.

Just then, their teacher walked in. Sakura ogled at him for a minute or so; he was, in a word, hot. Honestly, she had expected some old wrinkly man with a nasal voice not this piece of eye-candy.

She'd have to thank Uchiha-san for enrolling her here later.

"And it seems we have a new student here today. Haruno Sakura?" Sasori said, looking up after he had finished taking the register.

Sasuke nudged Sakura's side gently.

"Wha – Oh! Yes sensei, I'm here," she said, raising her hand sheepishly.

"Right. I'll have a word with you after class, Haruno-kun. Now, moving on to our lesson topic."

The class was… interesting, to say the least. Sakura had expected it to be boring, with the teacher droning on about the importance of punctuality and why not to be late. She was (pleasantly) surprised, however, when she found out that Sasori not only taught the class how to be on time, but also how to make up flawless excuses for oneself in the off-chance of lateness.

She glanced to her right at Sasuke. No wonder he never got detentions for being late.

After the class was over, Sakura went up to the front to speak to Sasori while Sasuke and Naruto waited for her outside the classroom. When she had finished giving her details to him, she made her way out of the classroom until she heard her name.

"Haruno, was it? Hm, I've never heard of that name before."

Sakura turned around and found another girl standing in front of her.

The girl leaned over to Sakura, so others couldn't hear what she was about to say next: "I wonder what trash like you is doing in a place like this. Take my advice Pinky, you'd be better off if you got lost from here."

"Karin, I'd appreciate it if you didn't harass my girlfriend over there."

The girl – _Karin_, Sakura noted – looked up at Sasuke and Naruto standing in the doorway, and quickly plastered on a fake smile.

"Oh? This is your girlfriend, Sasuke-kun? I had _no_ idea! We were just getting friendly with each other, weren't we, Haruno-chan?" Karin said in a chirpy voice, linking arms with Sakura.

"Get lost, Karin," Naruto snarled, as Sasuke took Sakura's arm away from Karin's grasp and led her out of the classroom.

"What did she say to you?" Sasuke asked once they were out of earshot from Karin.

"It's nothing," Sakura said dismissively. "Really."

Sasuke stared at her for a moment, before letting go of her arm.

"That Karin is such a bitch," Naruto scowled.

"Language, Naruto."

"Who is she, anyway?" Sakura inquired.

"Well," Naruto explained, "her dad owns a few big businesses around here. The family's in the metal-trading business. Stock commodities, or something like that. I don't know too much about it, but they're really rich. That's all you really need to make it here."

"Money?"

"That or a good family name," Sasuke said, opening a door for Sakura.

"You're almost certain to get into this place if your family's ancestry is amazing, even if you're not that wealthy," Naruto elaborated. "If it isn't that great, then as long as you do have money, you can get in. The Academy prefers lineage over wealth though, I think. Hey, how did you get in here, Sakura-chan?"

"My father's paying for her," Sasuke answered before Sakura could speak.

Naruto whistled.

"Wow, your family must _really _like her then, eh, Sasuke?" he winked.

Sakura blushed.

"Isn't it time for your curfew, dead-last?"

Naruto checked his Rolex. "Nah, not yet. I'll walk you guys out of the building. Going back to the topic, seriously, _how_ did you get in, Sakura-chan? I mean, even though this idiot's dad is paying for you, doesn't mean you can simply get into a place like this. You'd have to have come from a respectable family and all that jazz."

Sakura looked down at her feet. "Well, my mother was brought up in high society – like this – before she married my dad. Her father's family had roots traced back to the Edo period. I'm a direct descendant of one of the last daimyo of that era."

Naruto stared. "That must be why. Wow. Seriously, Sasuke, you bagged some _royalty_ there. So, what are your parents doing now, Sakura-chan?"

"Naruto–"

"Actually, my parents died six years ago."

* * *

**-**

**Author's Notes:**

**-**

As some of you can see, I'm cleverly trying to manoeuvre the story to match the summary. Am failing slightly, though.

For those of you that don't know, the Edo period is an era in Japan dating from 1603 and 1868 in the Roman calendar. The daimyo were the most powerful feudal rulers, or clan leaders, from the 10th to 19th century in Japan, so it fits in nicely.

I actually think canon!Sakura comes from a pretty boring background and that her parents are still alive, but let's pretend she doesn't for the purpose of this fic. It's AU. I CAN DO WHAT I WANT WITH IT.

_Lessthanthree._


	3. Banter

**Fandom:** Naruto  
**Pairing:** SasuSaku  
**Summary:** Class is dead, darling. It died out along with the dinosaurs, exchanged its pearls and diamonds for MySpace and corona. Welcome to the twenty-first century; would you like fries with that?  
**Disclaimer:** Standard disclaimer applies.

* * *

**Chapter Three:** Banter

"So basically, everyone there is stinkin' rich?"

Sakura nodded.

"Mm. It's like, a requirement for your dad to earn a nine or ten figure salary to even schedule an interview with the place."

Ino whistled.

"And your boyfriend's dad is paying for your tuition fees there. Damn, Sakura, you got lucky big time. Don't forget to invite me to the wedding, yeah?"

The two of them were having their lunch in an empty Art classroom, where they were free to gossip as much as Sakura wanted to and as loud as Ino wanted to.

"So, what are the people like there? Are they all beautiful, party kids like in The O.C.?" asked Ino, referring to the popular American teen drama television series that her and Sakura watched all the time.

"Um, not really," said Sakura, taking a bite of her onigiri that she packed into her bento box. "I mean, they're all really good-looking, but they don't go out and get drunk every night. I think. Their parents would probably flip out. Do you think their parents would flip out?"

Ino snorted.

"How am I supposed to know? My parents just own a flower shop. So, tell me more."

"Well," Sakura said thoughtfully, "there's this boy there, called Naruto."

Ino choked on her orange juice. "_Naruto_, as in the kamaboko that you get in ramen?"

"Yeah," said Sakura, picking up her water bottle and squirting some of its contents onto Ino. "Don't be mean, Ino-pig. He's actually really sweet."

Just then, the door opened and Inuzuka Kiba strolled in, halting at the sight of the two girls.

"… What are you two doing here?" he asked, donning a puzzled expression.

"Eating," replied Sakura nonchalantly, unaware that Mount Ino was about to erupt.

Kiba nodded absentmindedly. He glanced at Ino and grinned.

"Why Ino, is that a wet, white shirt I see you wearing?"

Ino roared and pounced on Kiba.

Kiba's grin widened, his plot going exactly as planned.

'_Thank you, Kami-sama_,' he mouthed up to the ceiling, just as Ino pounced on him.

Sakura sighed, and drank what was left of her water.

* * *

Sasuke looked at his watch.

"One more hour."

Sakura pouted.

"What? We've been here for four hours already! How much longer is this thing?"

"We have to wait for the toast, then there's half an hour left to mingle."

Sakura stared at him. "So what have we been doing since seven o'clock?"

"I—" Sasuke glanced to his right. "Okay, that's Hyuuga Hiashi and his daughter, Hinata, coming towards us. The Hyuuga is one of the oldest clans in the country from which others came from. Hinata and I are distant cousins."

Sakura nodded, taking in that piece of information while plastering a big smile onto her face.

"No Sakura; don't smile like that. You are neither insane nor constipated."

"Well, how do you know—?"

"Sasuke."

Sasuke turned. "Hiashi-sama, Hinata-san. I hope you are well," Sasuke said suavely.

"We are, thank you. I trust you and your family are in good health as well."

Sasuke lightly tapped his fingers from where they were placed on the small of Sakura's back.

"Oh! Um, s—sorry, please excuse my rudeness," said Sakura. "Haruno Sakura, pleasure to meet you," she added, nodding her head.

Hiashi lowered his head ever so slightly before replying, "The feeling is mutual. This is my daughter—"

"_HINATA-CHAAAN!_"

* * *

Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. "That was close."

"That was _clumsy_, Sakura, not close. You can't always rely on Naruto's idiocy and lack of decorum to bail you out."

"In my defence, he was really intimidating! That's the only reason I stuttered," Sakura said defensively.

The traffic lights turned green. Sasuke shifted gears and drove forward.

"Do you think they'll see it as that?"

Sakura didn't reply.

Sasuke continued. "They don't even know the meaning of the word. To them, being unable to act like they do is a sign of having crass manners and a poor raising."

"Well, they know my background—"

"But as soon as they heard your family history, that information became null," Sasuke interjected.

Sakura banged her head back against the headrest.

"Whatever," she said, turning her head away from Sasuke and staring out of the window.

An awkward silence had settled, and the drive continued in silence.

After ten minutes, Sasuke sighed.

"Look Sakura, you don't have to come to these things—"

"But I want to," she cut in quietly, still looking outside the window.

Sasuke's gaze flitted from the road to Sakura and back again.

"Why?"

"I don't know. It's just — it's just that…"

Sakura hesitated before continuing.

"It's just that we've each got our own different timetables this semester, and — and I barely see you at all. We don't even have lunch break at the same time anymore. And with classes and homework and stuff, well," she trailed off, resting the side of her head against the window glass, "I don't know. It feels like we're drifting apart."

She turned back to look at him.

"I don't want to lose you, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke didn't say anything in reply.

He didn't say anything for the rest of the journey either.

* * *

"Well, look who decided to come back again."

Sakura looked up from her exercise books and mentally groaned.

"Hi Karin," she said drolly.

Karin quirked an eyebrow and turned the chair in the seat in front of Sakura's, sitting so she was facing her.

She propped up an elbow on Sakura's desk and leaned her head against it, frowning thoughtfully.

"You know, there's nothing particularly special about you," she mused randomly.

Sakura paid no attention to Karin, choosing instead to finish copying the work the teacher had set out for them on the whiteboard.

Karin didn't take being ignored well.

"I mean, you're too skinny, your eyes are a bit too far apart to be normal, your hairstyle reminds me of something from the 1980's, you're too pale, and your forehead is really wide—"

Sakura twitched, but remained silent.

"—so I don't get what Sasuke-kun sees in you."

'_Deep breaths_,' Sakura chanted to herself. '_Breathe in and out, and then you can go punch something afterwards, once you're very, very far away from here. Like in the slums, where none of these people would ever think of going_.'

"I mean, sure, your family history isn't half bad," Karin admitted grudgingly, "but still. Sasuke-kun could do a lot better than you."

Sakura snapped.

She was about to rhetorically sneer, '_Oh? Like you?_', when she heard a stuttered, "H—Haruno-san?" from behind her.

Sakura's head whipped around to find one Hyuuga Hinata standing a few feet away from her desk, twiddling with her thumbs.

Karin immediately became quiet and scowled, throwing Hinata a dirty look, before getting up off her seat and stalking off.

Sakura eyed her retreating figure, breathing a sigh of relief as she watching Karin walk out of the classroom.

"Thanks a lot," she said, turning back to Hinata. "If you hadn't come in when you did, I would have probably gotten up and punched her."

Hinata nervously looked to her left.

Sakura's smile faded.

"Ookay. That wasn't funny, was it?"

"Haruno-san—"

"Please, call me Sakura."

Hinata seemed to contemplate on it.

"Ah — Sakura-san," Hinata settled for. She paused, before adding, "Call me Hinata."

Sakura's smile broadened again.

"Okay. Hinata. So, what did you want to ask me?"

"Um, it's n—nothing. It's just that Sasuke-san passed me on the way over. He said he'll b—be waiting for you in the p—parking lot," Hinata stuttered nervously.

Sakura noticed her fingers twitching throughout her sentence.

"Oh, okay, thanks!" she replied brightly, pretending not to notice.

"Um, so I guess I'll be going now." The two of them were the only ones left in the classroom.

As Hinata was about to turn away, Sakura stood up and asked, "Hey, Hinata. The Academy lets you go out on weekends, right?"

Hinata nodded.

Sakura slung her bag over her shoulder. "Do you have any plans this Saturday?"

"Um, I'm not sure—"

"Well, if you aren't, why don't you come out with me and one of my friends to the mall? I mean — you don't have to if you don't want you," Sakura added quickly, "but if you do, just tell me tomorrow or something during after-school sessions, okay?"

Hinata smiled, and said, "Okay, Sakura-san."

"Wonderful," Sakura said, beaming and grabbing Hinata's arm, tugging her out of the door.

* * *

Sakura stood in the parking lot, waiting.

"Ne, I thought Hinata said Sasuke-kun was waiting he—"

"Sakura."

Sakura almost had a heart attack.

"Sasuke-kun!" she sang, turning around and waltzing up to him. When she was in arm's reach of him, she punched his shoulder. He ignored her.

"I've been waiting here for ten minutes," she whined. "I thought you told Hinata that you were going to wait here for me."

Sasuke shoved his hands in his pocket and began walking towards his car.

"Hn. I saw Karin going into your classroom."

Sakura paused, staring at the back of Sasuke's head.

"You _followed _me? As flattered as I am that you want to look out for me, you didn't have to; it's not like I was in any danger—"

"It wasn't your safety I was worried about," Sasuke cut in curtly. "I was concerned that you would attack her and that her father would sue you for millions."

"… Oh."

"But," Sasuke continued, unlocking and opening the car door, "you took it very well."

Sakura sniffed, taking that as an insult.

"Of course I did. I don't get riled up by anything. I am the epitome of patience."

Sasuke smirked.

"Right," he said unconvincingly, getting into the car.

Sakura opened the door on her side and climbed in.

"I am!"

"Hn."

Sakura glared at him.

"Oh yeah? Well, Sasuke-kun, I'd just like to take this time to say how glad I am that I have such a wonderful, caring, _articulate_ boyfriend like you."

Sasuke's smirk widened as he started the car.

"Of course you are. Who wouldn't be?"

Sakura's jaw twitched.

"Snob."

"Idiot."

"Prick."

"Forehead-girl."

"Pretty-boy."

"_Annoying_."

"Ugh!" Sakura screamed, frustrated. "I _hate_ you, Uchiha Sasuke."

"… Hn."

They drove out of the parking lot.

"Sakura."

"What?"

"We're going out for dinner now."

"… I actually_ do_ love you, Sasuke-kun. Don't take what I say too seriously."

"I never do."

* * *

**A/N:**

**NB:** _Kamaboko_ is that white and pink thing you get in ramen. You know, the stuff that Naruto inhales.

This chapter is so filler-ish and... GARGH, that I want to gauge my eyes out.

But it was just rotting away, and things are gross when they rot.

I'm so tired. Stayed up all night trying to finish a Math project I was given one month to complete, but left to the last minute. That, and deviantART-ing. And LJ-ing. Basically, I was doing anything and everything except the project. But it's in now and I'm glad. And tired.

But I just got tickets to see Panic! At The Disco next month. So it sort of nulls out the fatigue.

I kinda took a bash at SasuHina. Hee. Subtle bash, as I didn't want to offend anyone. But I just... don't like that pairing. Sorry to those who do.

... I like fish though.

_Lessthanthree._


	4. Extinction

**Fandom:** Naruto  
**Pairing:** SasuSaku  
**Summary:** Class is dead, darling. It died out along with the dinosaurs, exchanged its pearls and diamonds for MySpace and corona. Welcome to the twenty-first century; would you like fries with that?  
**Disclaimer:** Standard disclaimer applies.

* * *

**Chapter Four:** Extinction

"Sakura."

_That stupid bitch, and… Ugh!_

Wham.

"Sakura."

_Who the hell does she think she is? One day, I am going to—_

"Sakura. I think the universe get the point now."

"Wha?" Sakura said, turning around. She had just been venting out her frustrations on her punching-bag and didn't even notice when Sasuke entered her room.

"Naruto called me and said the guys were going downtown to try out that new nightclub at Suna."

"Oh. Do you want to go?"

"I don't care," Sasuke said nonchalantly, picking up a thick textbook lying on the floor and dangling it between his fingers. "Sakura, do you know how heavy this thing is?"

"No I don't," Sakura said, unwrapping the bandages from her hands. "Whenever I want to read it, I just telekinetically summon it to wherever I am, so I don't have to physically carry it," she added sarcastically.

"… You're joking, right?"

Sakura stared at him.

"You're very lucky you're pretty, Sasuke-kun," she said.

"Hn. Now go take a shower and get ready."

"Ooh, _Sasuke-kun_. Do you wanna join me?"

Sasuke walked over to Sakura's punching-bag and kicked it lightly.

"No thanks, I'm fine," he said, positioning himself in a boxing stance. He began to punch the bag.

Sakura stared at him again.

"Sasuke-kun, you suck. Do you know how hard it is to turn you on?"

"Sakura."

"Yes, oh beloved one?"

"… Just." Punch. "Go." Punch. "Get ready." Punch.

* * *

"Oi, Forehead, what's got you so down?" Ino shouted over the deafening club music.

"I'm not down," Sakura replied quickly. "I'm just a bit… tired. You know."

Ino sat down on the couch next to her and handed her a drink.

"No, I don't actually. It's that stupid manner-school of Sasuke's isn't it?"

"Well—"

"Look, Sakura," Ino interrupted. "If it's stressing you out this much, why don't you just _tell_ Sasuke? I'm sure he'll understand and back off. And if he doesn't, I'll punch his sissy face in."

Sakura looked at Ino as the blonde downed the last of her margarita.

"Ino," Sakura said. "Please don't keep threatening bodily harm on my boyfriend every time you think something's wrong with me. It's not always his fault."

"But it usually is. Hey, you gonna drink that?"

Sakura rolled her eyes and handed Ino her glass.

"The way I see it, Sakura, is that he's trying to turn you into the prissy, stuck-up girl you would have been if your parents were still alive," Ino said, swinging her glass around and sloshing alcohol everywhere. She obviously had had too much to drink. "Hell, you would have probably been that girl _anyway_ without his interference once you were allowed access into your parents' bank accounts. Which would be in three years. And besides, you're too much of a pushover to say 'no' to him, so someone has to."

"I'm not a pushover," Sakura said indignantly.

"Psh, Sakura," Ino said, a grin forming on her face. "Do you need me to remind you of the many, many, _many_ times that I've had to cover your ass because of your willingness to please everyone?"

"Like when?" Sakura challenged.

"Like when that guy in the year above us, Rock Lee, asked you out — I know you didn't _really _want to go out with him, Forehead, so stop rolling your eyes at me — and I had to think up a clever excuse to call you away from your date. I'm still waiting for your thanks, by the way."

"Patience is a virtue, Ino."

"Ha. I am like, virtue personified," Ino said, flicking her blonde hair over her shoulder. "Now, Sakura, are you gonna tell me what's wrong with you, or am I going to have to slap a bitch? Are they giving you too much work over there?"

Sakura sighed.

"It's not the workload, Ino," she said. "If it was, I could handle that. It's the people, I suppose. I wasn't brought up in that society, and I just… don't _belong_ there, you know?"

Ino nodded vigorously, a too-serious expression on her face, and placed her now empty glass on the table.

"Obviously," she agreed. "We just aren't those type of people, Sakura. And we never will be. I'm glad for that, though. The rich and fabulous aren't as elegant as they used to be. I mean, if you're one of them, and you're not perfect… They'll eat you alive, Forehead."

"Sometimes, I think they already have," Sakura said, shaking her head.

Ino laughed giddily. _It's the alcohol going to her brain_, Sakura reminded herself. Ino never was as good with holding her liquor as Sakura was.

"That's because class is dead, Sakura _darling_. It died out with the dinosaurs and it traded its pearls and white wine for MySpace and corona—"

"MySpace? Dude, that thing is for fags."

Sakura groaned.

"Kiba, please stop bringing up that song in _every single subject_ we talk about."

"Whatever you say, Sakura," Kiba said, plopping himself on the couch in between the two girls. He threw one arm around each of them. "So how are my lovely chickas doing on this wonderful night?"

"Inuzuka. Get your paws off my girlfriend. Now."

Kiba looked up. When he saw who was standing in front of him, he went pale.

"Yo! Sasuke!" he said, leaping off the couch and grabbing Sasuke's hand, shaking it vigorously. "How are you, man? I'm doing good, thanks, and — whoa that girl over there is _hot_, so I'm going to head over there and try to get laid, because I am a guy and I am _not_ interested in Ino or Sakura, and, and, _kthxbai!_"

With that, Kiba dropped Sasuke's hand like it was on fire and sprinted past him, over to the bar counter to talk to a long-legged brunette in a tight shirt and a very short skirt.

"Um," Sakura said. "Does anyone want to go over there and tell him that that hot girl is actually a hot… boy?"

"Nah," said Shikamaru, who had just joined the trio. "It'd be too troublesome."

"Shika-kun!" Ino cried delightfully, latching onto him and nuzzling his arm.

Shikamaru sighed and petted her head exasperatedly.

"Besides, he'll find out sooner or later."

* * *

"Sakura."

"Yes, Sasuke-kun?"

"Are you unhappy?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura glanced over at him. He hadn't looked at her when asking the question and was instead staring at his feet. She chose her next few words carefully.

"No, of course I'm not," she said after a moment of hesitation. "What makes you think so?"

"Ino. She called me a wife-beater and tried to slap me just now."

Sakura stared at Sasuke.

"You're kidding, right?" she said in disbelief.

"Do I look like the type of person who just kids around?" Sasuke asked, deadpanned.

"Oh yeah. Well, in Ino's defence, she had a little too much to drink. Actually, she had _way_ too much to drink, but let's not dwell on that," Sakura said quickly. "Either way, Ino isn't the sanest person in the world, Sasuke-kun, and you should know that by now."

Sasuke merely looked at her, and though they were in a busy nightclub, with loud music pumping through the speakers from everywhere around them and tipsy partiers all over the place, Sakura felt as if, in that moment, they were the only two people in the world that mattered.

Sasuke stood up.

"I'm heading back now," he said. He walked over to where she was sitting and offered her a hand. "Do you want to come with me, or are you getting a ride back with one of the others?"

"Um," Sakura said, turning away from him and scanning the crowd. "I think I better stay here. Lord knows how much Ino had to drink, and someone has to make sure she gets home safely. Shino's already left, Kiba would try to rape her and Shikamaru would be raped _by _her, so they can't."

"Hn. Call me if you need anything," Sasuke said, bending down and giving Sakura a quick peck on the lips. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah. Bye, Sasuke-kun!"

"Goodnight, Sakura."

As Sakura watched Sasuke make his way to the entrance of the club, she wondered whether it was possible to miss someone who never went away.

* * *

"So, Sakura-chan, how are your lessons at the Academy?" Mikoto asked.

Sakura swallowed her food before replying, "Very well, thank you. The food's wonderful, by the way, Uchiha-san."

"Thank you, dear," Mikoto said, smiling. She threw a glance opposite her to Fugaku, who was seated at the head of the table. He gave an approving nod in response.

Itachi, who has witnessed the looks exchanged by his parents, picked up his glass and took a sip from it to hide his smirk.

After the meal, Mikoto had dragged Sakura off to town to shop around for dresses. _It's for formal events, _she had assured her husband and her sons, as she walked down the front steps, her arm linked with Sakura's.

When the car drove out past the gates, Fugaku turned around and told the boys that he would be in his office doing some work. Itachi and Sasuke didn't respond, nor did they move away from the doors.

"It seems as if our wonderful parents have tamed your little girlfriend already," Itachi mused.

"Shut up," was Sasuke's response.

Itachi turned to see the stony expression on his brother's face. His smirk widened.

"I'm not saying it's a bad thing, Sasuke," he said. "I mean, Mother's always wanted a daughter to do girl-things with for as long as I can remember."

"Hn."

"Just make sure she doesn't spend _too_ much time with Mother. You know what will happen if she does."

"I don't know whether that's supposed to be an insult to Mother or not."

"It depends on how you look at it," Itachi said, leaning against the doorframe. "True, she may be out mother, but you know how she can be sometimes."

"Mother's always been like this," Sasuke said defensively. "It has nothing to do with society."

"Oh, but it does, little brother. Mother never used to be like this. Only when Father began earning more money and when the invitations began to flow in did she change. I was thirteen at the time, and you were eight. You don't remember the changes that well, do you?"

Sasuke didn't.

"Sakura looks a lot more tired lately," Itachi continued, folding his arms. "I could see her eye-bags from where I was sitting. Is the work at the Academy too much for her?"

"Sakura's smart," Sasuke grunted. "She can cope."

"I think you should get her out of there while you can. Sakura's not that type of girl."

"No one asked what you thought," Sasuke snapped.

"I didn't say it was a bad thing, Sasuke. I personally like Sakura and I think you did well for yourself when you met her. She's… amusing. It would be a pity if our parents turned her into one of those girls from the Academy, don't you think?"

Sasuke could think of no reply.

* * *

**A/N:**

Sorry for the long wait, guys.

**NB:** The MySpace comment Kiba makes is taken from the song "_MySpace Is For Fags_" by Adam & Andrew, which I do not own. I personally don't have a MySpace, so I can't comment on it's faggotry, but the song made me laugh :D

ZOMG, I made a connection between the summary and the story! Kinda! I was reading reviews, and people were saying they didn't know how the hell I was going to relate the two, when it just came to me. Now all I have to do is work out how to write it D:

And I wanted a little Uchi-bruddah!love. So sue me. Itachi's reputation is already ruined in the _Naruto_ manga, so it's not like I'm doing that much more harm.

_Lessthanthree._


	5. Confrontation

**Fandom:** Naruto  
**Pairing:** SasuSaku  
**Summary:** Class is dead, darling. It died out along with the dinosaurs, exchanged its pearls and diamonds for MySpace and corona. Welcome to the twenty-first century; would you like fries with that?  
**Disclaimer:** Standard disclaimer applies.

* * *

**Chapter Five:** Confrontation

"Ino. Wake up. Wake up, Ino-pig. Come on now, it's already four in the afternoon and — oh my _god_, is that Shikamaru with that Temari girl?"

Ino's eyes snapped open at Sakura's words. In one swift motion, she grabbed a butter-knife from under her pillow and leapt out of her bed from under the covers, looking wildly around her (cluttered) room.

"What?" she all but shrieked. "Where's that little bitch? I'll rip her to fucking shreds and—ah, shit!" she cried, dropping the knife and clutching her head. She collapsed back onto her bed and buried her head under her blue pillows.

Sakura blinked and slowly inched towards where her friend had dropped the knife. She picked it up, and walked to the other corner of the room, where she set it down far, far away from the blonde.

"Ino, what the hell are you doing with a butter-knife in your bed with you?" Sakura asked incredulously, poking her friend in the ribs.

"I'm currently having the mother of all hangovers, Forehead," Ino groaned, her voice muffled by her pillows. "The least you could have done was let me sleep for five more minutes."

"It's your fault for having too much to drink. Here, I brought you some medicine to help with the headache," Sakura said, handing Ino a glass of suspicious-looking substances once the blonde had sat up.

"Thanks," Ino mumbled. She scrunched up her face and downed the contents of the glass. When she was done, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and stuck out her tongue at Sakura. "That was disgusting," she said.

"I know." Sakura sat down on the bed next to Ino. "But it works. You can't have your cake _and_ eat it, boar."

"I really don't get that saying," Ino said. "I mean, what's the point of having the cake in the first place, if you can't eat it? Anyway, has your day been more productive than mine?"

"Infinitely so. I actually got out of bed before noon, for one thing. Then I went over to Sasuke's, had lunch with his folks, and after, I went shopping with his mother for ball-gowns."

"Did she pay?"

"Ho yeah."

"I hate you," Ino said spitefully, grabbing her bolster and throwing it at Sakura's head.

* * *

When Sakura stepped into her classroom on Monday morning, she found several strewn chairs lying around with people quivering under their respective tables and Inuzuka Kiba rampaging around the room throwing dog biscuits at Nara Shikamaru, who was artfully dodging them.

"Why _the hell_ didn't you _tell_ me?" Kiba roared. "Do you know how… how disturbing that was for me?"

"I can only imagine," Shikamaru drawled, flinching slightly as a bacon treat hit him square in the forehead.

Kiba ceased fire and scanned the room for Ino.

"Oi! Blondie! Why didn't _you_ tell me?"

Ino looked up from her homework (which she was supposed to have done over the weekend, Sakura noted dryly), and shrugged sheepishly.

"Hey, I was piss-drunk," she said. Then, she brightened up. "Why, what happened?"

Kiba let out a frustrated sigh. He didn't seem to notice Sakura had just entered the room, which suited her just fine, and she watched on in amusement as he pounced on his next victim — Aburame Shino.

"Shino! What the hell, man? You're supposed to be my best friend! How could you let me do something so _stupid_?" he demanded.

"… I wasn't there."

"What?" Kiba asked, puzzled.

"No one invited me," Shino said, folding his arms in front of him and staring straight ahead at the blackboard.

"Whoa man, sorry, we totally forgot—"

"You forgot about me?"

"_No!_" Kiba shouted, raising his hands in defence. "It was… was… _It was all Shikamaru's fault!_" he exclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger at Shikamaru.

Shikamaru ignored him, having noticed Sakura standing in the doorway, hand over mouth, trying her hardest not to burst out laughing. He shook his head at her with a hopeless expression on his face before greeting, "Yo. Sakura. How was your weekend?"

Kiba whirled around.

"_Haruno Sakura!_" he howled, leaping over a few fallen chairs and bounding over to her.

"Hi, Kiba," she said, smiling. "How was yesterday?"

"Oh shit, do you even _have_ to ask? Did you know that the girl I was chatting up was actually a _guy?_" he asked, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her.

"Um, kind of?" she said sheepishly, trying to pry his hands off of her.

"_What?_ And you still made me go through all of that?" Kiba yelled.

"Shikamaru told us to leave you alone and said you would find out eventually!" Sakura confessed, shielding her arms across her face. A few feet away, Shikamaru, who had been watching the conversation take place, groaned and muttered a "_Troublesome_" under his breath before ducking, as Kiba threw the whole box of biscuits at his head.

"Bastar—"

"Calm down, Kiba," Kakashi, their homeroom teacher, said, appearing just behind Sakura. "Now everyone, pick up a chair and take it. I'm not even going to bother asking who trashed the classroom. Kiba, sweep up your dog's food once we're done. I wouldn't want him to starve because you were to busy throwing it at people."

Outraged at being the first to be accused, Kiba took his seat at the front of the classroom, right in front of Kakashi's desk, feigned a wounded expression and declared, "Why, Kakashi-sensei, I am _hurt_ that you think it was _me_ who did this!" He placed a hand over his heart and continued. "Just because I have Akamaru, it does not mean I made this mess! I didn't, by the way," he quickly added. "It was all_ Shikamaru's _fault!"

Shikamaru, by this time, had not even bothered to sigh or roll his eyes in response to the accusation. He merely sat at his desk, chin propped up on his arm and watched the clouds go by outside the window.

"You know, Kiba," Kakashi-sensei said, looking amused, "it's pretty brave of you to lie so blatantly, seeing as how there are twenty six other eyewitnesses, who are currently trying their best not to piss themselves laughing at your bluff."

Kiba furrowed his eyebrows and looked bemused for a moment, before he turned around to see the rest of the class with their hands over their mouths trying to hide their laughter.

"Aw man, why can't I _ever_ win?"

* * *

"So," Sakura said, "did you mean what you said the other night at the club?"

It was lunchtime, and Ino and Sakura were sitting in the corridors eating their lunches, backs pressed up against the lockers. It was deserted, as every other normal human being in the school was in the cafeteria sitting at tables.

Ino stopped poking her carrot-stick and shoved it into her mouth, chewing thoughtfully. When she had swallowed it, she said, "Sakura, I was completely wasted on Saturday. You're a smart girl, you should know better than to trust what I say when I'm like that."

Sakura wasn't happy with that answer. She persisted, "You said some not-so-nice things about my boyfriend and tried to bitchslap him."

"I don't remember that. I probably meant it, though."

Sakura sighed and leaned her head back against the locker.

"What do you have against Sasuke-kun, Ino? Why do you hate him so much?" she asked, looking up at the ceiling instead of at the blonde.

"I don't have anything against him, Forehead, seriously," Ino insisted. "I think you two are cute together, and you make a great couple—"

"Then why do you keep saying things like this?" Sakura interrupted.

Ino smiled grimly and got up. She picked up her box of carrot-sticks and walked over to the nearest rubbish bin, throwing them inside.

"Those things are disgusting," she commented as she walked back to where Sakura sat. "Diet or not, I am _not_ eating them. I'd rather starve."

"Stop avoiding the question."

The blonde looked down at her pink-haired friend from where she stood. She exhaled and looked towards the heavens, as if asking for some guidance. When she received none, she let out another sigh and plopped back down next to Sakura.

"Look," Ino said. "I told you, it's not like I hate the guy or anything. Okay, Sakura? I'm really, _really _happy that you've found someone that you like as much as you like him, and I'm glad he feels the same way. Both of you are just so… so _right_ for each other, you know? You're nothing alike, but you balance each other out. In a way, I'm really envious of you, Forehead," she admitted. "I'd rather have what you have, with your grumpy, imperfect knight-in-shining-armour than just one night with Prince Charming, knowing that his kingdom will call him away the next day." Ino frowned a little and tugged a lock of Sakura's hair before continuing. "You're my best friend Sakura, and I love you, you know that. But even though you dating Sasuke, it doesn't mean I have to be in love him."

"I should hope not," Sakura snorted, swatting away Ino's hand.

"Sakura, I just want you to not change yourself so much for him. This upper class stuff — I don't like it. The people you have to 'network' with aren't our type of people and I'm just concerned for you. I know you aren't happy, so stop trying to lie to me, because it's not working," Ino said.

Sakura fiddled with the hem of her skirt and didn't reply. Ino was just being honest with her, she knew that, and in that moment, Sakura hated her friend for knowing her as well as she did.

"Oi. Sakura. Get up."

Sakura looked up.

"Sasuke-kun," she greeted, an automatic smile already on her face as she took the hand offered to her.

Sasuke looked down at the person next to her.

"Ino," he said deadpanned.

"Sasuke," the blonde hissed in reply.

Sakura, sensing the tension in the air, stepped in between the two, partially blocking her boyfriend from Ino's death glares.

"So, Sasuke-kun. What brings you here down this lonely corridor?"

Sasuke merely shrugged and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Nothing," he answered. "Sakura, I can't make it to the Academy after school. I've arranged for a driver to pick you up and drop you off there—"

"Whoa, whoa. Hold on right there for a second," Ino interrupted, leaping off the floor. She walked up to Sasuke and poked a perfectly manicured finger at his chest. "You mean to tell me that you're sending her." _Poke_. "Up there." _Poke_. "All." _Poke_. "Alone?" _Poke_.

Sasuke looked at the attacking object and frowned at it in disdain.

Sakura leapt in.

"Now, now, Ino," she said hastily, dragging the girl off her boyfriend. "It's perfectly fine. I'll be okay," she assured her friend, who wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to her and was still glaring at Sasuke.

"Look," Ino said, addressing Sasuke. "I don't give a flying fuck _who_ your family is. I don't care how much money you have or whether you can hire a hitman to off me anytime you want to."

Sakura groaned and scanned the corridor for any other students and for an escape route. She found none. She looked at Sasuke, whose expression was as neutral as ever, even if he had an eyebrow quirked up in bemusement.

"But, as soon as Sakura admits to me _out loud_ that she's unhappy with what you've been putting her through," the blonde continued. "I _will_ kick your pansy, rich-brat ass for doing that to my friend, who is such a doormat, I'm surprised she hasn't been conned out of both her kidneys yet. You got that? Good."

And with that, Ino grabbed her schoolbag, slung it over her shoulders and stormed off, leaving Sakura wide-eyed and mentally firing curses at her back, alone in the corridors with her boyfriend, who at the moment, was frowning deeply.

"Sakura?"

Sakura knew something was wrong from the moment he said her name. It was the first time he ever said it in a questioning tone.

"Yes, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura flinched.

Deep onyx eyes penetrated her. She fidgeted slightly, waiting for his next sentence.

"Is what she said true, Sakura?"

* * *

**A/N:**

Shino!


End file.
